Graeme Souness feared the worst after receiving phone call from Alan Hansen before health update

Graeme Souness admitted to not wanting to pick the phone up when he received a call from Alan Hansen, before feeling relieved to hear his former teammate’s voice.

Hansen has been in hospital after being admitted with a serious illness last week. Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, as well as Jamie Carragher, are among those to have sent messages to the 69-year-old since the news broke.

There was a positive update on Monday though as Souness confirmed he had spoken to his former teammate. The former Liverpool captain though admitted he feared the worst when received a call.

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“I got on the train on Sunday and I was looking for my seat and my phone rang and I could see it was big Al,” Souness told talkSPORT. “I was thinking: ‘Oh no, don’t answer that.’ So I sat down and got the courage to phone back and he answered the phone.

“He’s definitely back because he did nothing but take the mickey out of me. He’s been in a difficult place but the way he sounded yesterday, he’s back, and I hope I’m right.”

Souness played alongside Hansen at Liverpool between 1978 and 1984, during which time the Reds dominated English football and won three of the club’s six European Cups. The pair also played together for Scotland, with Hansen racking up 26 caps while Souness represented his country 54 times.

Liverpool said in a statement last week: "The club is currently in contact with Alan's family to provide our support at this difficult time, and our thoughts, wishes and hopes are with Alan and all of the Hansen family.

"We will provide any further updates as we receive them in due course, and we request that the Hansen family's privacy is respected at this time."